V. I. Lenin

Greetings to the Workers of Petrograd

Written:5 November, 1919First Published:Petrogradshaya PravdaNo. 255, November 7, 1919; Published according to the manuscriptSource:Lenin’sCollected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 30, pages 108-119Translated:George HannaTranscription/HTML Markup:David Walters & Robert CymbalaCopyleft:V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of theGNU Free Documentation License

The workers of Petrograd deserve the first message
    of greeting on the occasion of the second anniversary of the
    Soviet Republic. The Petrograd workers, as the vanguard of the
    revolutionary workers and soldiers, as the vanguard of the working
    people of Russia and the whole world, were the first to overthrow
    the rule of the bourgeoisie and raise the banner of the
    proletarian revolution against capitalism and imperialism.

For two years the workers and labouring peasants of the Soviet
    Republic have triumphantly held high that banner despite all
    difficulties and all the torments of hunger, cold, chaos and
    economic ruin. Two years of socialist development have given us
    extensive experience, have enabled us to consolidate Soviet power
    despite the malicious fury and resistance of the bourgeoisie and
    the military attack by world imperialism.

On our side we have the sympathy of the world’s
    workers. The proletarian revolution is maturing slowly and with
    difficulty, but persistently in all countries, and the brutal
    violence of the bourgeoisie only exacerbates the struggle, only
    hastens the victory of the proletariat.

Very recently the British reactionaries, the imperialists, made
    their last stake on the capture of Petrograd. The bourgeoisie of
    the entire world, especially the Russian bourgeoisie, already had
    a foretaste of victory. But instead of victory they met with
    defeat at Petrograd.

Yudenich’s forces have been beaten and are
    retreating.

Comrades, workers and Red Army soldiers! Bend all your efforts!
    Keep on the heels of the retreating troops at all costs, crush
    them, do not allow them to rest for an hour, or a single
    minute. At this moment we can and must strike harder than ever in
    order to finish off the enemy.

Long live the Red Army that is defeating the tsarist generals,
      whiteguards and capitalists! Long live the international Soviet
      Republic!

November 5, 1919